Vertical drier for web material



Nav. 5, 1935. E. E. BERRY y VERTICAL DRIER FOR WEB MATERIAL Filed June9, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 l- NNN Nov. 5, 1935. E. E. BERRY VERTICAL DRIRRRoR wRB MATERIAL Filed June 9, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 5, 1935. E. E.BERRY VERTICAL DRIER FOR WEB MATERIAL Filed June 9. 195s 5 Sheets-Sheet5 f AVE] EF coa/ effg.

Patented Nov. 5, 1935 PATENT OFFICE 2,019,649 VERTICAL DRIER FOB WEBMATERIAL Earl E. Berry, Beloit, Wis.,. assignor to Beloit Iron Works,Beloit, Wis., a corporation of Wiscomin Application June 9, 1933, SerialNo. 674,975 z claims. (ci. :s4- 43) 'Ihis invention relates toimprovements in vertical driers for web material such as paper and thelike.

More specically this invention relates to ver- 5 tically mountedcylindrical drier drums for web material equipped with directing feltsor canvas to press the webbeing dried against the cylinders and toprevent curling of the web without destroying circulation of dryinggases through the drier stack. The invention includes a novel supportingstructure for the drier drums whereby the serpentine course of the webthrough the driers is viewed unobstructedly from the side of theapparatus.

It is sometimes desirable, because of lack of iloor space, to mount thedrier drums for paper and the like web material in a vertical stackpositioned immediately after the wet end of the paper or web machine.Since the usual type of horizontal driers requires an enormous amount offloor space it is obvious that a stack arrangement, vertical orinclined, of the drier drums will eiect considerable saving in oorspace.

Heretofore vertical driers have been, when used,

almost always confined to drying heavy papers because it has beenconsidered impossible to equip Y the vertical driers with directingfelts or canvas to hold the sheet against the drier drums and therebyobtain a good heat transfer. When heavy sheets are dried, however, thenormal shrinkage of the sheets causes a tight contact with the drierdrum and a good heat transfer is thereby obtained. 'I'he tendency forheavy papers to shrivel or cockle during the drying operation,furthermore, is relatively slight, whereas when lighter papers aredried, and especially those papers made from pulps that are highlyhydrated, there is a. very great tendency for the sheet to shrivel andcockle. As a result it is 40 necessary to use felts to hold thelightweight sheets very tightly to the drier surfaces. In the usualhorizontal type of driers, the heat transfer has been obtained by theuse of felts or canvas partially wrapped around each drier drum andoperated under considerable tension. 'I'he lightweight sheet is thenpassed between the canvas and the drier drum and an eliicient heattransfer obtained. y l

It has been proposed to equip the vertically vmounted driers withdirecting felts or canvasv so that this type of drier might be used forlightweight papers. However the proposed arrangements of felt or canvaswebs in vertical driers have completely destroyed the circulation of airor drying gases through the drier stack and have thereby greatly reducedthe eiciency of the drying operation. It is well recognized that a goodair circulation should be maintained through the driers so that themoisture-laden air surrounding the web being dried is rapidly removedfrom n the web region. In some installations it has been proposed toblow a blast of air through the drier stacks. With the known manners ofthreading the directing felts for the lightweight papers this aircirculation has been cut oi by the felt or canw vas passing across thestack and thus destroyed.

I have now provided an arrangement of directing felts or canvas forvertical driers whereby the air or drying gas circulation through thestack is capable of being operated with the same eiiid ciency as thehorizontal type of apparatus.

I have also provided a novel arrangement for mounting the drier drumsbetween vertical supports which do not obstruct the view and make itpossible for the operator to follow the entire 20 serpentine course orpath of travel of the web 4through the drier stack without difficulty.This is a very important feature since when breaks occur in the web theycan be immediately detected and the broken web may be readily threaded25 through the stack without hindrance because of supporting structure.

A preferred form of my invention includes a silent chain drive for thedrier drums.

It is therefore an object of this invention to 30 provide a verticaltypev of drier for web material which is equipped with directing elts orcanvas which do not cut o ff the air circulation through the stack.

It is another object of this invention to provide 35 a vertical type ofdrier for paper and the like in which the paper web is directed throughthe drier by means of vdirecting felts or canvas partly entrained aroundthe drier drums without destroying air circulationl through theapparatus. 40

It is a specific object of this invention to'provide a vertical type ofdrier for web material in which the drier drums are mounted between twovertical supports, the drier drums being cooperating sets, driven by asingle endless chain 45 and equipped with directing felts for pressingthe web against the drier'dr'um surfaceqto,` obtain a good heattransfer. ,A i

Another object of this invention is` .t provide a vertical type of drierfor weblmaterialvc'pm- 50 posed of a plurality of ldrier 'drums mountedbetween vertical supports so that. -the travel ofthe web through thedrier maybe viewed without obstruction.

The invention is further illustrated on the acl5 companying sheets ofdrawings which form a part of this specification and show preferredforms of my invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a vertical drier stack showing asingle set of drier drums equipped with two endless directing felts anddriven by a single endless chain.

Figure 2 is a broken front elevational view of the vertical drier shownin Figure 1 with part of the outside felt broken away to show the drierdrums.

Figure 3 is another form of vertical drier showing two sets of drierdrums mounted on three sets of vertical supports, driven by a singleendless chain and equipped with directing felts for holding the web ofpaper against the drum surfaces.

Figure 4 is a combined form of vertical and horizontal drier drums soarranged that a single endless felt is entrained around the top set ofhorizontal driers and the right hand set of vertical driers whileanother directing felt is entrained around the bottom set of horizontaldrums and the left hand set of vertical drums.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2 the reference numerals I and 2 indicate verticalbeams or supporting structure for a plurality of drier drums arranged intwo vertical stacks, comprising the drying rolls 4 and 5, respectively.A top beam or support 3 may be fastened to the beams I and 2 at the topends thereof to impart rigidity to the supporting structure. The dryingrolls or drums 4 and 5 are mounted in bearings such as 6 and 1 which arebolted respectively to the vertical beams I and 2. The bearing 1 forthetop drum 5 is preferably of the horizontal supporting type with a strap8 across the top, which is removable, to permit removal upwardly of thetop drying drum 5. Similar bearings, such as 6 may be provided withstraps 3 to support and hold the drums 4 in xed rotatable relation.

, The drier drums 4 and 6 are driven by a silent chain l0 which mesheswith a gear Il on each drier drum. The chain I0 is driven by means of adriving gear I2 or other suitable driving mechamsm.

A felt I4 is guided around all oi' the drier drums 4, with the exceptionof the lowermost roll, by means of guide rolls I5 positioned above andbelow said drums. Said rolls I5 are positioned with ,their lateral faceslying back from the inner crowns of the drier drums 4 so as not toobstruct the free upward passage of air by the felts. Guide rolls I6 arealso provided to direct the felt I4 around the outside of the drier drumframe or supporting structure so as not to interfere with the webpassing through the drier unit.

A second felt I1 is partly entrained around all of the drier drums 5 andthe bottom drier drum 4 by means of guide rolls I6 positioned below thedrums 5 in the vertical stack. Said rolls I3 are positioned in a mannersimilar to that described for the rolls I5 so as not to interfere withthe circulation of air between the drums 4v and 5. Additional guiderolls I6 are provided to direct the outside run of the felt l1 so as notto interfere with the web passing through the drier. Tension rolls 2lmaybe provided to keep the felt I1 in a stretched condition. y

Itwillthusbeseenthataweb ofpaper'suchas the web 22 may enter the drierstack from the top and travel downward in a serpentine patharoundthedrierrolls4 andlandemergefrom the bottom of the stack as shown.The felts I4 and I1 maintain a tight contact of the web with the drierdrums 4 and 5 and prevent cockling or crinkling of the web. At the sametime, the sheet is exposed to the natural draft of drying air, 5 or tomechanically produced vertical air blasts that may be circulated throughthe drier stack and the air circulation is not materially interferedwith or cut off by the felts I4 and I1.

In Figure 3 two sets of drier drums 24 and 25 1o and of drums 26 and 21,respectively, are mounted on vertical supporting beams 30, 3l and 32 bymeans of bearings such as 33 and 34 which, as shown, are bolted to thesupports 3| and 32. A top support 35 is provided to impart rigidity to15 the framework. It is thus seen that four vertical columns of drierdrums are supported by means of three pairs of vertical beams. It isunderstood,v of course, that two sets of beams 30 and 3I and 32 areprovided, one on each end of the drums 20 24, 25, 26, and 21. 'Iheconstruction in this respect is similar to that shown in Figure 2.

Sprocket gears 36 are provided on each drum 24, 25, 26 and 21 formeshing with an endless driving chain 31 which is suitably driven bydriv- 25 ing gears such as 36.

An endless felt 40 is guided around the drums 25 and 26 by means ofrollers 4I and 42 respectively which are positioned between the drums 25and 26. Said rollers 4I and 42 are positioned 30 with their lateralfaces lying back from the inner crowns of the drier drums so that theweb being dried will be unobstructed as it passes from drier to drier.The felt 40 is guided across the bottom of the drier by means of guiderollers 43 35 so as not to interfere with the web entering into andemerging from the drier. Tensioning rolls 44 may be provided to maintainthe felt in a stretched condition., A top roll 45 is provided` betweenthe two top drier drums 25 and 26 for 40 guiding the felt around the topof the vertical stack. It is thus seen that the single felt 40 isutilized to guide the web being dried around the two inner verticalcolumns of drier drums 25 and 26.

Another endless felt 46 is provided to guide the web being dried aroundthe outside drier rolls 24 and 21. Guide rolls 41 and 46 are positionedbetween the drier drums 24 and 21 respectively to direct the felt 46around the outside periphery 50 of these drums. Additional guide rolls49 may be provided alongside the outer run of the felt to preventinterference with the web being dried. Tensioning rolls 5 6 may also beused to maintain the web 46 in a stretched condition.

By this arrangement the web or felt 46 holds the paper or web beingdried tightly against the top 3 drier drums 24 and 21, as the web passesover these drums. 'I'he inside felt or felt 40 holds the web against thefour inside drier drums 00v 25 and 26 and also the bottom outside drierdrums 24 and 21. A web of material such as the paper web 5I enters thedrier as shown in the dotted lines at the left hand bottom side andtravels around the bottom drier drum 24 and vthen in 05 a serpentinepath upward between the drums 25 -and 24 until it reaches the top drum25 where its upward direction is reversed over a set of guide rolls 52and 53. The web then descends in a serpentine path between the drums 26and 2 1 and 70 emerges from the bottom drum 21 as shown.l The feltarrangement whereby a single'felt takescareofthetwobottomdrums24and21andthe inside stackofdrumsandltwhileanothersingie felt takes care d the remaining'outside aoiaeae I 3;'

drums 24 and 2l permits a very eflicient drying operation since airblasts may be circulated through the stack in the same manner as if thefelt were not provided since the felts do not cross over and cut off theair current. The only hindrance in the path of the air-currents throughthe `stack is the paper web itself which is. of course, being dried andis intended to be acted upon by the air currents.

In the modification shown in Figure 4 a web of material to be dried suchas a web of paper 60 enters into the vertical column of drier drums atthe top thereof around the top drum 6I and descends in a serpentine pathto the bottom drum 62 from which it is transferred into the horizontalsection of the drier and travels -in a serpentine path over horizontaldrums 63 and 64. The web 60 is directed around thedrum 6| and drum 84 bymeans of an endless felt or canvas 65 which is held tightly against thedrums 6l and 64 respectively by guide rolls 6B and 6l respectivelylocated between the drier drums. The back run of the felt 65 is guidedaround guide rolls 68 .so as not to interfere with the run oi' the paperthrough the drier. The felt may be dried by pasi sage over a heated drum69 before returning to the top drier drum 6I where it again contacts thepaper web. It is thus seen that the web 65 serves the vertical drierdrums 6I and the top set of horizontal driers 64.

An additional felt l0 is provided for pressing the web against the drums62 and 63 and is guided around these drums by means of guide rolls iland 'l2 respectively. The back run of the felt l0 is guided around guiderolls 13 so as not to interfere with the travel of the paper through thedrier. A tension roll 'Hi may be provided to maintain the felt in astretched condition. Likewise a drier drum 'i5 may be provided to drythe :felt

40 before it is returned to contact with the incoming web of paper- 60at the top drier drum 62. It is thus seenv that the felt l0 serves thevertical stack of drier drums 52 and the lower horizontal row of drierdrums 63 without in any way interfering with a vertical blast of airthrough the vertical drier stack orl a horizontal blast of air throughthe horizontal drier section. The paper web upon emerging from thehorizontal section around the last guide roll 6l may be passedthroughthe conventional cylinder stack lb.

The entire drier may be mounted on a support such asis shown at l1 whilethe vertically mount- While the naturally occurring or forced air`currents through the drier are not interfered with by the directing feltand thus aid in making the 65 vertical drier of this invention just asefllcient as a horizontal type of drier, in some instances, it may bedesirable to create horizontal air currents through the vertical drier.These horizontal air currents can act directly on the web 70 being driedas it passes between the rolls in the drier. They may be formed byejecting air from nozzles located along the sides of the driers andsupplied with air at sufl'icient pressure to travel across the width ofthe machine.

75 As shown in Figures 1 and 2 nozzles 90 to 95 inclusive are providedfor directing horizontal air currents across the drier unit to carry themoisture away from the web being dried. The air supplied may be eitherat room temperature or slightly heated to increase its moistureabsorption 5 capacity. The moisture vapors coming from the lower drierrolls rise and pass alongside of the i higher drier rolls with theresult that the surrounding atmosphere at the top ot the drier sectionis highly saturated with moisture. The lo formation of the lhorizontalair currents prevents the saturation of the upper section of the drierwith moisture.

Since the placing of all of the air nozzles on one side of the machinewould cause the atmos- 15 phere surrounding the sheet to be highly`saturated with moisture on the side of the machine opposite the nozzlesI propose to alternate the positioning of the nozzles on each side ofthe machine. Thus nozzles 9|, 93, and 95 are placed 20 on one side ofthe machine while the cooperating nozzles 90, 92, and 94 at diderentlevels are placed on the other side of the machine.

While the nozzles for producing horizontal air currents are only shownin Figures 1 and 2 it is 25 obvious that they may be added to thestructure shown in Figures 3 and 4 without departing from thisinvention.

It is to be understood that any desired number of drier drums may bemounted in the vertical 30 or horizontal sections of my improved dryingapparatus. From the above description it is evident that I have provideda drier for a web material which may be readily driven by a singleendless chain silent drive and which is equipped $5 with directing orpress felts for holding the web tightly against the drum to insure agood heat transfer without in any way interfering with air currentsthrough the drier. I have also provided a simplified structure wherebyvertical supporting 40' beams are used to mount the drier drums withoutobstructing the operators view of the course of travel of the webthrough the drier. The entire structure makes possible an emcient dryingoperation at low power operating cost and with a great 45 conservationof floor space.

By the terms endless belt" and endless felt" as used in the abovespecication and in the following claims I mean to include any type ofdirecting web such as felt or canvas whether 50 initially formed into anendless loop or sewed j together at the ends after being threaded intoposition in the drier.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vertical type paper drier, four vertical stacks of drier drumsarranged in spaced relation in each stack and in staggered relation inadjoining stacks, an endless felt trained to wrap around part of theperipheries of successive drumsl in the two inside stacks, and thelowermost drums in the outside stacks, a second endless felt trained towrap around part of the peripheries of the drums in the outside stacks,said ielts cooperating to guide a paper web through the drier in aserpentine path Without cutting oil vertical air currents through thedrier.

2. A vertical drier unit for web material comprising vertical standards,four vertical stacks of drier drums supported from said standards intrained over rollers and over the outer surfaoel parallel relation andwith the drums .of the two of the drums in the two middle stacks tothereby inner stacks in staggered relation with the drums denne aserpentine path for the web meterla! of the two outer stacks, a, teltfor guiding paper extending back and forth between the successivethrough the drier and rollers around which said drums in v:said stackwithout being obstructed by felt is trained so arranged between saiddrums the felt as lt passes from one drum stack to es to lap said feltabout the outer surfaces o! another.

the drums in the outer stank, a eee-ond felt EARL E. BERRY.

